Trades Alberta: Trades program works for women and employers

Sarah Michel is a first-year electrical apprentice at Magnum Electric in Grande Prairie where she works for company president Tim Tarita. Sarah’s apprenticeship was spurred by her participation in the 10-week Trades Work for Women program.

Photograph by: Randy Vanderveen
, Randy Vanderveen

EDMONTON - Magnum Electric’s involvement in the Trades Work for Women program has grown exponentially ever since president Tim Tarita agreed to host participants in a job shadowing initiative.

The one-day shadowing exercises led to two-week work placements, then six-month placements, then apprenticeships.

“It’s a good program and has been an extremely good way to get quality staff,” said Tarita, who oversees 32 employees at his Grande Prairie business, including Trades Work for Women program graduate Sarah Michel.

She is now apprenticing as an electrician at Magnum, a company that completes electrical jobs for a variety of commercial and residential customers.

The 10-week program provides women with skill enhancement, work exposure placements and assistance to find and retain employment in the trades. It’s offered through The Work Place in Grande Prairie and funded by the provincial and federal governments.

Program co-ordinator Denise Carlson said there has been plenty of support from local employers. That makes a big difference in a smaller centre such as Grande Prairie, where 1,008 apprentices attended the local college for technical training in the 2011/2012 school year. By comparison, 11,512 students attended the Northern Alberta Institute of Technology in Edmonton.

“We have a real solid commitment from employers in our community. We wouldn’t be able to make our program work without it,” Carlson said.

Marilyn Maloney, off-campus co-ordinator at Lacombe Composite High School, can relate. She helps the school’s 22 students in the Registered Apprenticeship Program (RAP) find work placements and said operating in a smaller centre comes with its own set of challenges. Students in the RAP program must make room in their time tables for half days of work.

“In a larger school there’s more wiggle room for time-tabling, but here students have to get prepared a little earlier and start thinking about this in Grade 11 so it works for their time-table,” she said.

And while it can sometimes be challenging to place students in certain fields if many students are interested in the same trade, Maloney said local employers have been open to taking on students.

“Businesses here are aware of what RAP is and are supportive, and there’s also a fair number of choices for employment with the Joffre Plant and Dow Chemical plant nearby,” Maloney said.

At Magnum, Tarita has been involved with Trades Work for Women for three years.

“The program teaches them work habits and being punctual and the roots to a good tradeperson. They’re coming in very prepared life skill wise. Yes, they’re green as far as the electrical portion, but they’ve caught on so fast,” Tarita said.

“They’ll continue to send me people and we will continue to nurture the program, as there’s amazing young ladies coming out of it.”

The program was developed to address labour market needs for skilled tradespeople in the Grande Prairie area, as well as the under-representation of women in the trades, said Carlson.

After completing the program, which prepares students to write the Alberta Apprenticeship Exam for their desired trade, most graduates go on to receive technical training at Grande Prairie Regional College. Carlson said some students go to Edmonton, if technical training for their desired trade is not offered in Grande Prairie. The application process for the free program is demanding, including attending workshops and completing career investigative reports, but so too is the program, said Carlson, because that’s the reality of working in the trades.

“When we look at our course, we’re looking at preparing the participants for a job in a very different world then they previously worked in,” she said.

The program has 12 to 14 spaces each year and typically has more than 100 potential applicants. As the program continues to graduate women who go on to work in the trades, Carlson said there has been a noticeable impact on the local workforce.

“Now we see women in our region who are journeypersons and so more young women are seeing other women out there working as welders, electricians, mechanics, carpenters, cabinetmakers. Those women are real role models and mentors for the young women who have never though about trades as a viable occupational choice.”

One of those women is Christa Youngman, a 28-year-old journeyperson electrician who entered the program when it was first offered in 2006.

“I was working in a bar at the time and really needed a change. I was looking through the paper when an ad for Trades Work for Women caught my eye,” she said.

Her work placement during the program led to an apprenticeship and Youngman still works for the same Grande Prairie company, Cookshaw Electric.

“It’s really awesome. When I was working in the bars before it’s not really a great lifestyle. But working in the trades, you’re making good money all year round and you meet better people, people who help you choose a better path,” she said.

Sarah Michel is a first-year electrical apprentice at Magnum Electric in Grande Prairie where she works for company president Tim Tarita. Sarah’s apprenticeship was spurred by her participation in the 10-week Trades Work for Women program.

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